Huawei Technologies has faced fresh setbacks after problems over the name of its registered mobile operating system, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.
The Beijing Intellectual Property Court rejected a lawsuit from the Chinese tech giant on Wednesday, with the latter launching a court challenge against the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).
But the CNIPA rejected the application, stating it could potentially confuse consumers as a cosmetics firm in Beijing and software company in Hebei had previously registered the trademark in 2010.
Huawei said the HongmengOS label had "unshakeable popularity" and was widely backed by the Chinese, adding the name was linked with the Chinese tech firm.
But Chinese courts rejected the argument due to the firm failing to prove it had built a reputation with the name. Huawei did not immediately respond for comment to the SCMP.
The news comes amid an ongoing US trade war with China, with the world's largest IT equipment provider facing major sanctions and blacklisting by Washington as well as losing access to Google Mobile Services (GMS).
Huawei had previously funded the development of the operating system with tens of millions of USD in August 2019, following further Trump-era restrictions and being placed on an Entity List in May of the same year, it added.
According to reports, Huawei will allow Chinese smartphone firms to use HarmonyOS on their devices if banned from GMS, Richard Yu, company chief executive of BG said in a statement in January.
The news follows an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping published in the journal Qiushi in late April calling for stronger intellectual property as well as efforts to boost innovation in the country.
